H.R. 2642, the Farm Bill Conference
Report: This bill contains a number of provisions
supported by AF&PA:
• Includes the Forest Products
Fairness Act (HR 979), which allows
forest products to be included in
USDA’s biobased programs.
• Includes compromise language
that exempts forest roads and
silviculture activities from any
permitting requirements and the
citizen suit provision of the Clean
Water Act. The language does not
prevent EPA from considering non-
permit measures for forest roads and
silviculture activities.
• Includes improvements to
conservation programs like the
Conservation Stewardship Program and
multiple beneficial provisions related
to federal land management
• Calls for the Secretary of
Agriculture to revise the strategic
plan for the FIA program and includes
direction on what should be included.
• Funding for Energy Title
programs generally was reduced. The
Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP)
has been reduced to $25 million a year
in total funding, not more than half
of which can be used for the
Collection, Harvest, Storage and
Transportation (CHST) payments that
previously were a concern for the
industry.

Y

This official's percentage on this voting record:

0%

112th Congress AF&PA Voting Record - Senate

Description

Preferred Position

This official's vote compared with the preferred position

S.Amdt. 183 to S.493, the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act: This amendment prevents
the Environmental Protection Agency
from regulating greenhouse
gas emissions under the Clean Air
Act without the input of Congress.

S.AMDT.1660 to S.1813, the Moving Ahead
for Progress in the 21st Century Act: This amendment provides additional time for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue achievable standards for industrial, commercial,
and institutional boilers, process
heaters, and incinerators.

Y

This official's percentage on this voting record:

0%

Symbol Key:

Voted with the preferred
position

Voted against the preferred
position

Y

Voted YES

N

Voted NO

-

Did Not Vote

A

Absent

T

Paired Vote

Z

Presiding

P

Voted PRESENT

Cosponsorship of Key Legislation

Description

Preferred Position

Cosponsor of this Legislation?

115 S.951S.951, the Regulatory Accountability Act: A comprehensive regulatory reform measure that provides a judicially enforceable cost-benefit standard for major federal regulations and requires greater opportunity for public input and vetting of critical information - especially for billion-dollar rules, and requires that information about the regulation be publicly released in a timely manner.

Support

114 S.655S.655 - Prohibits the use of funds by the Secretary of the Interior to make a final determination on the listing of the northern long-eared bat under the Endangered Species Act.

Support

114 S.751S.751, the Clean Air, Strong Economies Act - Prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from lowering its national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone until at least 85% of counties that are in nonattainment areas (counties that are exceeding the limit) have attained the standard. In promulgating a primary or secondary NAAQS for ozone, the EPA must: only consider a county to be a nonattainment area on the basis of direct air quality monitoring (rather than modeling); take into consideration feasibility and cost; and include in the regulatory impact analysis for the proposed and final rule at least one analysis that does not include any calculation of benefits resulting from reducing emissions of any pollutant other than ozone.

Support

114 S.808S. 808, the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act - Removes the Surface Transportation Board from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish it as an independent U.S. agency. Increases Board membership from three to five members. Prescribes requirements for discussions at Board meetings not open to the public. Requires the Board to: establish a database of rail service complaints it has received, and post quarterly reports of such complaints as well as rail service complaints it has received on its website. Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2016-FY2020 for the Board. Grants the DOT Inspector General authority to review only the financial management, property management, and business operations of the Board to determine its compliance with federal laws, rules, and regulations. Requires the Board to: maintain one or more simplified and expedited methods for determining the reasonableness of challenged rail rates in cases where a full stand-alone cost presentation is too costly, given the value of the case; and maintain procedures to ensure expeditious handling of challenges to the reasonableness of rail rates. Prescribes time limits for Board review of rail rate reasonableness cases. Repeals certain rail service contract limitations involving the transportation of agricultural commodities. Authorizes the Board to investigate rail carrier and pipeline carrier violations on its own initiative as well as on complaint (as under existing law). Prescribes requirements for investigations commenced on the Board`s own initiative. Requires the Board to establish a voluntary binding arbitration process to resolve rail rate and practice disputes. Directs the Government Accountability Office to study rail rate contract proposals containing multiple origin-to-destination movements.

Support

114 S.1140S.1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act - Requires the Department of the Army and the Environmental Protection Agency to adhere to certain principles and take specified actions in proposing any regulation revising the definitions of "waters of the United States" and "navigable waters."

114 S.1634The Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act - Amends federal transportation law to terminate the exemptions of railroads from antitrust laws for collective ratemaking agreements. Requires the Surface Transportation Board, when reviewing a proposed agreement, to take into account its impact upon shippers, consumers, and affected communities.

Support

114 S.2006S. 2006 - The Regulatory Accountability Act - Increases public participation in shaping the most costly regulations before they are proposed. Requires that agencies choose the least costly option, unless they can demonstrate that public health, safety, or welfare requires a more costly requirement. Gives interested parties the opportunity to hold agencies accountable for their compliance with the Information Quality Act. Provides for on-the-record administrative hearings for the most costly regulations to ensure that agency data is well-tested and reviewed. Provides for a more rigorous test in legal challenges for those regulations that would have the most impact.

Support

114 S.2478Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the purchase of paper United States savings bonds with tax refunds.

Support

114 S.2882S. 2882, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act - Prevents a rushed implementation of the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), by: • Setting a 10-year implementation schedule for the 2015 ozone NAAQS to provide states time to complete work on implementing the 2008 ozone standard, • Adjusting the NAAQS review cycle to 10 years, establishing a more realistic review cycle, • Requiring EPA to issue implementation guidance concurrent with any NAAQS revision, and • Providing important relief for Prevention of Significant Deterioration permits.

113 S.RES.309Expresses support for: (1) improvement in the collection, processing, and consumption of recyclable material throughout the United States in order to create well-paying jobs, foster innovation and investment in recycling infrastructure, and stimulate the economy; (2) strengthening the U.S. manufacturing base in order to rebuild the domestic economy; (3) a competitive marketplace for recyclable materials; (4) the trade of recyclable commodities; (5) U.S. policies that promote recycling and recyclable materials, that promote using recyclable materials as feedstock to produce new basic materials and finished products, and that establish the equitable treatment of recycled materials; (6) research and development of new technologies to more efficiently and effectively recycle materials such as automobile shredder residue and cathode ray tubes and to remove materials that are impediments to recycling; (7) Design for Recycling to ensure that a good can be recycled safely and economically at the end of its useful life; and (8) the participation of U.S. households, businesses, and governmental entities in recycling programs.

Support

113 S.463The Forest Products Fairness Act - Amends the Farm Bill to make forest products eligible for USDA’s Biobased Markets Program, which is marketed by USDA as the BioPreferred® program. The program is comprised of two separate initiatives: Product Labeling and a Federal Procurement Preference.

Support

113 S.638The Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act - Amends federal transportation law to terminate the exemptions of railroads from antitrust laws for collective ratemaking agreements. Requires the Surface Transportation Board, when reviewing a proposed agreement, to take into account its impact upon shippers, consumers, and affected communities.

Support

113 S.971The Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act - Provides a permanent and clear legislative fix to preserve EPA’s existing regulation of forest roads under the Clean Water Act and prevents burdensome litigation over how “forest roads” should be treated under the Act. It would preserve EPA’s position that forest roads should not be regulated as point sources under the Clean Water Act and would prevent further determinations down the road that Clean Water Act point-source discharge permits would be required for everyday activities, such as reforestation, thinning, and pest and fire control, that occur across the country on public, private, state and tribal forest roads.

Support

113 S.1009The Chemical Safety Improvement Act - Updates the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The bill provides a solid scientific foundation for chemical regulatory decisions and provides clear direction for EPA to create a transparent, efficient, and sensible process to manage the safety of chemicals in commerce. This bill does not expand the scope of the current TSCA regulation, it strengthens preemption of state and local regulation; provides confidential business information provisions that are no weaker than current TSCA; generally maintains an “unreasonable risk” safety standard; maintains current TSCA exemptions and does not change the definition of “processor.”

Support

113 S.2777The Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act - Reauthorizes the STB for the first time since it was created, and would make the Board a more viable forum for handling freight rail issues. Streamlines rate case procedures, creates a meaningful alternative dispute resolution process, and requires a thorough and significant review and reanalysis of the rules under which the agency operates. Other improvements include allowing the Board Members to discuss agency matters with each other and creating timelines for cases.

Support

112 S. 49The Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act - Amends the Clayton Act to grant the United States exclusive authority to bring suit for injunctive relief against a common carrier that is not a rail common carrier subject to the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
Revises provisions prohibiting anticompetitive transactions except for those approved by specified federal agencies acting under certain statutes to eliminate the exemption for certain STB approved transactions.
Provides that, in any civil action against a rail common carrier, the U.S. district court shall not be required to defer to the primary jurisdiction of the STB.
Empowers the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate, and engage in antitrust enforcement regarding, collective rate agreements and certain transactions, including railroad mergers and acquisitions.
Permits treble damages against railroad common carriers in antitrust suits to parties injured by antitrust violations without regard to whether such railroads have filed rates or whether a complaint challenging rates has been filed.
Amends federal transportation law to terminate the exemptions from antitrust laws for collective ratemaking agreements.
Requires the STB, when reviewing a proposed agreement, to take into account its impact upon shippers, consumers, and affected communities.
Revises STB authority to provide that a rail carrier, corporation, or a person participating in an approved transaction is not exempt from specified antitrust laws. Makes such provision inapplicable to any transaction relating to the pooling of railroad cars approved by the STB or its predecessor agency.

Support

112 S. 158The Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2015 for the Surface Transportation Board.
Increases Board membership from three to five members.
Removes the Board from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish it as an independent U.S. agency.
Grants the DOT Inspector General authority to review only Board financial management, property management, and business operations to determine compliance with applicable federal laws and detect fraud and abuse.
Revises member composition of the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council.
Revises the objectives of U.S. rail transportation policy, including protection of rail shippers.
Requires the Board to: (1) maintain an Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance; and (2) appoint a rail customer advocate to resolve rail customer complaints.
Authorizes the Board to investigate rail carrier and pipeline carrier violations on its own initiative as well as on complaint (as under existing law). Requires proceedings to determine the reasonableness of a rate charged by a carrier be initiated only upon complaint.
Requires the Board to: (1) establish a database of rail service complaints it has received; and (2) post a quarterly report of such complaints on its website.
Authorizes the Board to revoke class exemptions to rail carrier requirements to protect rail shippers from the abuse of market power.
Requires Board studies on: (1) class exemptions; (2) the Uniform Railroad Costing System; (3) use of a replacement cost approach to value rail facility assets; (4) rail practices; and (5) rail interchange rules.
Directs the Board to require Class I railroad carriers and other railroad carriers to report regularly on railroad service metrics and other performance data as prescribed by the Board.
Delineates requirements regarding proof and admissibility of evidence of rail carrier interline rate agreements.
Prohibits the Board from issuing a person (other than a rail carrier) a certificate to acquire a railroad line or extended or additional railroad line that includes interchange commitments or other mechanisms restricting the ability of the purchaser or tenant to interchange traffic with another carrier unless they are reasonable and in the public interest. Delineates a process for persons to challenge existing interchange commitments as well as certain rights and remedies with respect to them.
Directs the Secretary to make grants available to assist any Class III rail carrier under Board jurisdiction with the credit risk premium of a direct loan or loan guarantee made to purchase or lease a rail line.
Requires a Class I rail carrier to establish, upon rail customer request, reasonable bottleneck and terminal switching rates for single line movement or interline movement rail transportation over a bottleneck rail segment in which the carrier has market dominance.
Revises criteria authorizing the Board to require a rail carrier to make its terminal available to another rail carrier. Authorizes the Board to require a Class I rail carrier (including any other rail carrier deemed appropriate) to make its terminal facilities available for use by another carrier in cases where it has market dominance in a terminal area.
Changes from discretionary to mandatory the authority of the Board to establish reasonable rail rate standards for terminal use.
Requires the Board to establish a binding arbitration process to resolve rail rate, practice, and common carrier service disputes.
Revises maximum rates of relief that the Board may provide to railroad shippers in certain rail rate reasonableness cases. Sets forth time limits for Board review of such cases.
Revises requirements with respect to the approval or denial of the consolidation, merger, or acquisition of control of rail carriers to authorize the Board to take into consideration significant effects of the transaction on public health, safety, and the environment as well as intercity rail passenger transportation and commuter rail passenger transportation.

Support

112 S. 747The Safe and Efficient Transportation Act - Allows a state to authorize a vehicle with a maximum gross weight (including enforcement tolerances) exceeding certain federal weight limitations to operate on Interstate Highway System (IHS) routes in the state if: (1) the vehicle is equipped with at least six axles, (2) the weight of any single axle does not exceed 20,000 pounds, (3) the weight of any tandem axle does not exceed 34,000 pounds, (4) the weight of any group of 3 or more axles does not exceed 51,000 pounds, and (5) the gross weight of the vehicle does not exceed 97,000 pounds.
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a safe and efficient vehicle bridge infrastructure improvement program. Requires the Secretary to apportion amounts from the Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund to states for eligible bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose a tax on any vehicles that exceed federal weight limitations operating on the IHS, and (2) establish the Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund.

Support

112 S. 1369The Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act – Provides a permanent and clear legislative fix to preserve EPA’s existing regulation of forest roads under the Clean Water Act and prevent burdensome litigation over how “forest roads” should be treated under the Act. It would preserve EPA’s position that forest roads should not be regulated as point sources under the Clean Water Act and would prevent further determinations down the road that Clean Water Act point-source discharge permits would be required for everyday activities, such as reforestation, thinning, and pest and fire control, that occur across the country on public, private, state and tribal forest roads.

112 S. 1751The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act - Amends subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to facilitate recovery and beneficial use, and provide for the proper management and disposal, of materials generated by the combustion of coal and other fossil fuels.

Support

112 S. 1789The 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012 - To improve, sustain, and transform the United States Postal Service.

Support

112 S. 2245The Preserve the Waters of the U.S. Act - Prevents EPA and Army Corps Clean Water Act regulatory overreach.